- Review monthly financial statements. Taking the time to look over monthly financial statements from credit cards, checking accounts or any other account can alert you to anything amiss. This could tip you off to identity theft long before an unpaid account hits your credit score.

- Check your credit reports every year. Under federal law, you are entitled each year to see your three credit files, which are held by credit bureaus Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.

The free reports can be requested at www.annualcreditreport.com. Instead of checking all three reports at once, you can choose to access the reports individually every four months. That way you will cycle through all three reports over the course of the year.

- Check your earnings statements. If someone — say, an illegal immigrant — uses your name to get a job and report wages, it should appear in your annual earnings statement from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Reviewing this document can help red-flag labor-related ID theft.

- Be wary of tax-filing services. Tax-refund identity theft is on the rise. Remember that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers through e-mail. If you receive an e-mail purportedly from the IRS — or a company that says it's endorsed by the IRS — and it claims you have a refund waiting for you, it is probably a scam.

- Guard sensitive documents. Be mindful of documents that might be used to access a financial account or access to credit. Sensitive documents include credit card offers, Social Security information, driver's license information and medical information. Keep documents locked in a secure place. Dispose carefully of anything you don't need. Consider shredding waste.

- Computer security. Strengthen your online passwords. Make sure your computer's antivirus software is up to date. Be careful about online phishing, where a fraudster sends a legitimate looking e-mail meant to steal access to your personal or financial records. Do not click on links in unfamiliar e-mails you get, spam in particular. Go to the website you know is the accurate one for the company.

- Watch out for scams. They can take many forms, especially by telephone, e-mail or through classified listing sites such as Craigslist. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.

- Get a copy of your health care file. In case you are ever the victim of medical identity theft — i.e., someone gets medical attention in your name and on your dime — you can use your real health care records to help prove that you are a victim.</IF YOU GO>

"Both are problems (that deal with) pride, honor and your name," said Walker. "Everything is important to victims because (both crimes) address what they spent all their lives to create: their name."

Identity theft

While the unit sees more scams, there were 572 complaints of identity theft in Vanderburgh County from January 2005 to March 2010, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The FTC also estimates that up to 9 million Americans are victims of identity theft each year.

Thieves aren't just looking to run up loans or steal credit from their victims, who often are unaware their identity has been stolen until it's too late.

Thieves, warn law enforcement officials, also could be accumulating back taxes if they've used their loot to find a job and warrants that will be traced back to the victim.

They don't care how good their victim's credit is to begin with; they have no reason to care how many fees there will be, said Walker's colleague, Detective Kurt Pritchett. He remembers telling one shocked victim that thieves used his bad credit to "buy three motorcycles and a house full of furniture."

"That's the problems with the crooks; they realize that even (a bad identity) will get them a lot of money," said Pritchett.

Identity thieves can take their loot in a variety of ways.

According to the FTC, it is done by physical means such as Dumpster diving, diverting mail to another address or just plain stealing; by pretending to be the victim to gain information from banks or telephone companies; or by more elaborate schemes, such as phishing or skimming, which is using a device to steal credit card information.

ATMs have been a popular target of thieves who use skimmers, said Cathleen Wyatt, a fraud loss prevention manager at Old National Bank.

Though she was unaware of any ATMs being targeted in Evansville, she said its just a matter of time before the practice spreads to the Tri-State. Wyatt said she recommends that people go to familiar ATMs and be aware if anything seems odd about the machine. The skimmers, which are usually a device that fits over the card slot, gather credit card and PIN numbers that the thieves sell the numbers across the country, Wyatt said.

Gas station pumps are also a common target.

"If you're going to an unfamiliar gas pump, you want to make sure you look at it. If there is anything weird sticking out on it, try to pull it off, before you put your card in there ... protect yourself," said Wyatt.

Thieves also can obtain victims' entire nine-digit Social Security number by knowing a birthday and the last four numbers, said Tom Bozikis, a vice president at the Tri-State Better Business Bureau.

Though websites such as lifelock.com offer identity theft protection, those who work with fraud say people can do the same thing by utilizing annualcreditreport.com. The free site allows users to check their credit reports three times a year at no cost. Other tips include shredding financial documents and being wary of anyone who asks you to verify financial information over the phone.

"Contact (your bank's) fraud investigative unit. Never hesitate to do that," said Old National Bank spokeswoman Kathy Schoettlin said, "If you have doubt, be cautious and take that step first."

Sgt. Sam Smith, the head of the Evansville Police Department's financial crimes unit, said thieves also target mailboxes, especially now because of e-mail many letters in mailboxes contain bills.

Smith says a mail flag can be a signal for thieves, and says he refuses to leave bills in his residential mailbox.

"If I'm paying a bill by mail, I drive to a mailbox for that very reason," he said.

Some cases of identify theft, which can range from someone snagging the victim's Social Security number to unauthorized use of a victim's credit card, doesn't even get reported to law enforcement, said Chuck Spice, the division manager of the Tri-State Consumer Credit Counselor Service, because it involves family members or friends.

"Most identity theft occurs by people that the (victim) knows," he said. "A lot of times it is people that are close by and have access to information."

Parents also have been known to steal their children's identity, especially if they're in a tight spot financially and are looking for a short-term fix, Spice said.

Smith said his officers have had several cases where the victims chose not to prosecute their family member or friend.

"We suspend a lot of cases because the victims don't want to cooperate," Smith said. "It could be a brother; we've had mothers scam daughters; we've had daughters scam mothers and siblings and all that; it's actually quite common."

But that doesn't mean that people shouldn't be wary of strangers, Spice said. All financial documents should be shredded, he said, and if people suspect problems with their mail, they should report it because it is a popular way for identity thieves to prey on unsuspecting victims.

Criminals will use any setup they think will entice a victim, said Pritchett.

Though he declined to release specifics, Pritchett said he is working a case in which an unemployed victim thought he was being hired for work and instead found out his "employers" were applying for loans in his name, using the information he supplied.

When victims become aware their identity has be compromised, it can take up to two years to clear the fraudulent charges, Bozikis said.

Identity thieves not only target their victims' likeness for credit reasons, but can also use the information to get driver's licenses or other official ID cards, gain employment, file a fraudulent tax return or apply for housing, utilities or government benefits.

"That's the thing about identity theft, it can create a whole host of problems from warrants to credit to back taxes for the victims," Smith said. "And they aren't even aware their ID is being used."

Scams

Those e-mails from Nigeria promising a treasure of free money and fake cashier checks are still scooping up victims in Evansville, said Smith and others who deal with consumer fraud.

They say they see a higher volume of scams than identity theft.

Smith said his office handles several calls a week about scams, either online or over the phone, and similar setups such as online auctions, Jamaican lottery winnings and lonely heart scams.

In fact, Bozikis said the Better Business Bureau averages a report of about one counterfeit check each day. Smith said scammers have even turned to using relay services for the deaf because operators, by law, can't alert the potential victim, even if the operator suspects the caller is being deceitful.

While Smith warns that anyone can get tripped up by one of these schemes, the elderly remain a top target of con artists.

In fact, he said, an elderly Evansville couple lost more than $120,000 in a lottery scheme last month after the suspects got the couple to trust them.

Smith said he suspects the scam originated in Panama.

As with most scams that aren't local, recovery can be difficult, he said. and noted the couple probably has no way to recover that money.

"There's not much we can do," Smith said. "They're out of the money plus the criminals get off scot-free, and we can't even look into it."

Pritchett said one scammer once told him that he targeted the elderly because they were more willing to believe the scammer has good intentions, they are usually on fixed incomes and may be less aware.

To top it off, Pritchett said the guy told him, "if you stress them out enough, there's a good chance they'll die before it ever gets to court."

"We're not dealing with the cream of society," Pritchett said. "We're dealing with really cruddy crooks."

While there are scams aimed exclusively at the elderly, including setups involving a grandchild in jail or Medicare, everyone is being targeted by con artists, Bozikis said, though older victims are more likely to contact his bureau.

Pritchett said anyone who could turn into a victim is a mark for criminals.

"That's why they call it phishing," Pritchett said. "They cast their nets out and use some bait or ruse to get some identifiers off you or just use you as the rube to cash checks they got from someplace else."

Scammers are always looking for the next hook.

Smith said social media sites, such as Facebook, are already being used by people trying to get any kind of personal information.

Not only should people be wary of how much information they disclose in public, they shouldn't accept "Friend" requests from anyone they don't know.

Swindlers also will revert to old tricks, thinking if they worked the first time ...

Pritchett said: "People keep letting their guard down and the schemers keep coming up with new things or going back to old things to relieve people of their money."

The best defense people have against fraud is to be as financially aware as possible.

Institutions, such as Old National Bank and Tri-State Consumer Credit Counselor Service also offer fraud training and tips.

Schoettlin reminds consumers that "if it sounds too good to be true, it is."